A nation reveals what it values by who it protects. This week, Dutch officials confirmed that a child under age 12 died by euthanasia under the Netherlands’ expanded law. Supporters call it compassion. But compassion should never mean intentionally ending the life of a child.  

Every family facing severe illness deserves our prayers, support, and the best palliative care medicine can offer. Their suffering is real. But once society decides some lives are too painful, too dependent, or too difficult to continue, we cross a dangerous line. 

Children are not burdens to manage. They are human beings with dignity that does not disappear in suffering. 

Mercy should mean caring for life, not ending it.